Far North Line staffing arrangements

[bradders1983]

Was on this line last week (see thread in trip Planning) and during a few minutes break we had at a station waiting for the northbound train to clear the single track, I was talking to the conductor about his day, he said he had come up from Inverness that morning and he was almost finished (when the train got into Inverness). He also said there were 5 drivers based at Wick.

And when I travelled into Wick from Thurso the night before on the last train of the day, when we got into Wick there was already a train in and I assume the two empty trains stable there until the morning.

So the question is - what are the staffing arrangements for a line with only eight full trips (4 in each direction) a day Monday-Saturday?

Assuming:

Crew 1 - Work the 0620 Wick-Inverness (arr. 1035) and then the 1037 Inverness-Wick (arr. 1452)
Crew 2 - Work the 0812 Wick-Inverness (arr. 1215) and then the 1400 Inverness-Wick (arr. 1816)
Crew 3 - Work the 0704 Inverness-Wick (arr. 1132) and then the 1235 Wick-Inverness (arr. 1648)

...who then works the 1600 Wick-Inverness and the 1754 Inverness-Wick? Does this mean there are two crews a day that are "displaced"? Do they get transport back to their origin or given the distance are they always put up for the night? Its also quite a long day for the second crew of the three crews above given the 105 minutes between departures, assuming what I typed isnt a load of bull

Furthermore, there is only one return trip on the Sunday, I assume this is only ever worked by a Wick-based crew?

 

[D6975]

I would assume that the last train in each direction swap crews when they cross.


Back in loco hauled days, on passenger, Inverness men never went North of Brora, Wick men never South of Lairg. (except due to late running.)
All far North trains used to swap crews when they crossed.

 

[PHILIPE]

Might find some useful info on this recent thread:-

www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=107825

 

[bradders1983]

I didnt see the driver swap over at any of the "crossover" points (either Forsinard or Ardgay on the 1235 from Wick) as I was sat at the front of the train near the front door the entire journey

In any case, we had left Forsinard before the northbound train cleared the single track section.

 

[cf111]

The 1600 Wick-Inverness is manned by the Inverness crew who took the 1038 Inverness-Wick north. The 1754 Inverness-Wick is manned by the Wick crew who took the 1235 Wick-Inverness south.

The only trains which swap crews are the 0620 from Wick and the 0704 from Inverness, the swap takes place at Lairg.

And yes, the Sunday turn is worked by a Wick crew.

 

[bradders1983]

The 1600 Wick-Inverness is manned by the Inverness crew who took the 1038 Inverness-Wick north. The 1754 Inverness-Wick is manned by the Wick crew who took the 1235 Wick-Inverness south.

The only trains which swap crews are the 0620 from Wick and the 0704 from Inverness, the swap takes place at Lairg.

And yes, the Sunday turn is worked by a Wick crew.

Interesting, because I was on the 1235 Wick-Inverness and the guy selling the beverages (who was from London originally) said he was finished when he got to Inverness. Is it different for the catering then?

Also, what about the 0812 Wick-Inverness and 1400 Inverness-Wick? Wick crew?

 

[cf111]

Interesting, because I was on the 1235 Wick-Inverness and the guy selling the beverages (who was from London originally) said he was finished when he got to Inverness. Is it different for the catering then?

Also, what about the 0812 Wick-Inverness and 1400 Inverness-Wick? Wick crew?

No it should be the same for the catering. Some of the catering staff will cover for absences though, I have sat next to an Inverness staff member who was going to Wick for a week to do just that.

Yes they are Wick crews. There used to be a lot more crew swaps, normally at Lairg or Ardgay. This was good for those of us who (used to) smoke!

 

[bradders1983]

Bit of a short day for the early morning Wick crew then. I assume the Inverness lot will do other routes once they get back to Inverness just before 11am?

 

[headshot119]

No it should be the same for the catering. Some of the catering staff will cover for absences though, I have sat next to an Inverness staff member who was going to Wick for a week to do just that.

Yes they are Wick crews. There used to be a lot more crew swaps, normally at Lairg or Ardgay. This was good for those of us who (used to) smoke!

When I did Inverness - Wick (Last train of the day), it was an Inverness caterer on board, who lodged overnight at Wick, then took the first train back in the morning. We didn't realise till we where sat having breakfast in the hotel at the table next to him.

He was quite chatty and explained he was covering for someone at Wick being ill.

 

[Starmill]

Also, what about the 0812 Wick-Inverness and 1400 Inverness-Wick? Wick crew?

Yup. I was on the 0812 when I did my trip up there and we had a Wick guard.

 

[ER158715]

As mentioned, Wick crew do the first one down as far as Lairg then swap with Inverness crew who arrive back into Inverness at 1035. They then have PNB before taking the 1217 out to Dingwall and arrive back in Inverness at 1327.
The only other Inverness worked Wick job is 1037 out and 1600 back. The 1754 service leaves as a 4 car and splits at Dingwall with the front two going to Wick and rear set to Kyle. The Kyle driver travels Pass to Dingwall and carries out the split. Once the Wick service gets to Georgemas after its trip to Thurso, it gets issued with a "Wick Occupied" token as the set that arrived off the 1400 exInverness is already there.
As for number of drivers, there will be 8 once all the trainees are finished.
Hope that helps.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I didnt see the driver swap over at any of the "crossover" points (either Forsinard or Ardgay on the 1235 from Wick) as I was sat at the front of the train near the front door the entire journey

In any case, we had left Forsinard before the northbound train cleared the single track section.

The train will have drawn forward from the platform to clear the crossing as it will time out if sitting on platform too long. Also there is a slightly better radio reception at the stop board. The next loop south is at Helmsdale so if 1037 North is delayed by over 25 mins, it will be held at Helmsdale and miss out the Thurso branch on both trips(1600) By the time the 1600 (which will have left approx 1620 due to PNBs) it will be back on time at Georgmas by not going down the branch.

 

[berneyarms]

As mentioned, Wick crew do the first one down as far as Lairg then swap with Inverness crew who arrive back into Inverness at 1035. They then have PNB before taking the 1217 out to Dingwall and arrive back in Inverness at 1327.
The only other Inverness worked Wick job is 1037 out and 1600 back. The 1754 service leaves as a 4 car and splits at Dingwall with the front two going to Wick and rear set to Kyle. The Kyle driver travels Pass to Dingwall and carries out the split. Once the Wick service gets to Georgemas after its trip to Thurso, it gets issued with a "Wick Occupied" token as the set that arrived off the 1400 exInverness is already there.
As for number of drivers, there will be 8 once all the trainees are finished.
Hope that helps.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


The train will have drawn forward from the platform to clear the crossing as it will time out if sitting on platform too long. Also there is a slightly better radio reception at the stop board. The next loop south is at Helmsdale so if 1037 North is delayed by over 25 mins, it will be held at Helmsdale and miss out the Thurso branch on both trips(1600) By the time the 1600 (which will have left approx 1620 due to PNBs) it will be back on time at Georgmas by not going down the branch.

How does the Kyle line work if you don't mind me asking?

Any changeovers there or are they all through worked?

 

[380gk]

No changes on the Kyle services excluding the dingwall split on the 1754, soon to be a thing of the past.

 

[greatkingrat]

As for number of drivers, there will be 8 once all the trainees are finished.
Hope that helps.

8 drivers just at Wick? To cover a total of 19 diagrams a week? Even allowing for leave that seems somewhat excessive.

 

[berneyarms]

No changes on the Kyle services excluding the dingwall split on the 1754, soon to be a thing of the past.

Thank you very much!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

8 drivers just at Wick? To cover a total of 19 diagrams a week? Even allowing for leave that seems somewhat excessive.

Look at the length of the rosters....

 

[bradders1983]

As mentioned, Wick crew do the first one down as far as Lairg then swap with Inverness crew who arrive back into Inverness at 1035. They then have PNB before taking the 1217 out to Dingwall and arrive back in Inverness at 1327.
The only other Inverness worked Wick job is 1037 out and 1600 back. The 1754 service leaves as a 4 car and splits at Dingwall with the front two going to Wick and rear set to Kyle. The Kyle driver travels Pass to Dingwall and carries out the split. Once the Wick service gets to Georgemas after its trip to Thurso, it gets issued with a "Wick Occupied" token as the set that arrived off the 1400 exInverness is already there.
As for number of drivers, there will be 8 once all the trainees are finished.
Hope that helps.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


The train will have drawn forward from the platform to clear the crossing as it will time out if sitting on platform too long. Also there is a slightly better radio reception at the stop board. The next loop south is at Helmsdale so if 1037 North is delayed by over 25 mins, it will be held at Helmsdale and miss out the Thurso branch on both trips(1600) By the time the 1600 (which will have left approx 1620 due to PNBs) it will be back on time at Georgmas by not going down the branch.

All interesting stuff, thanks. When I went to Thurso last Wednesday from Wick I did notice that the 1747 Thurso-Wick was cancelled and the train went straight through from Georgemas to Wick. I assume they put a minibus on for the passengers? And is this quite a regular occurance?

 

[whoosh]

8 drivers just at Wick? To cover a total of 19 diagrams a week? Even allowing for leave that seems somewhat excessive.

Forget the one on Sunday for a minute, as Sundays are outside the working week and are covered with overtime.


So that's 18 duties a week. Or three a day. The two in the morning will need a 'spare' to cover for sickness, annual leave, rules periodicals, incidents, etc. The turn in the afternoon will also need a 'spare' to cover it. The first morning turn is quite short, although I expect the train will need to be prepped first, so before it leaves at 06:20 the driver will have had to have booked on and read notices (probably about ten minutes for this), walked to the train (x minutes time allowance for this), prepped the train (another time allowance for this - about 20 minutes would be realistic I'd say), then let the passengers on. So he'll actually book on at about 05:40-ish I expect. That makes that turn about 6 hours.

The next turn (taking out the 08:12) doesn't get back until 18:16. So that's just over ten hours, and the 08:12 will need prepping too, so the turn may book on earlier to do it (call it booking on at 07:37 for arguments sake or 10 hours 40 minutes) or alternatively, the first turn above may book on even earlier to prep both trains.

The morning 'spare' if allocated this middle job, will not be able to be rostered the first duty the following day as there isn't 12 hours rest. He'd have to be the middle job again, or the afternoon job, or Rest Day. Or... there may have to be two morning 'spares'!

The afternoon job is about 10 hours as well.

Add the duration of the turns together and divide by three, and the average turn length is more than 8 hours 45 minutes, which is what it would need to be for a four day 35 hour week. So there is likely to be an extra rest day in the roster somewhere to make up for it.


Even if it was a four day week (perhaps there is a 'local agreement' to not have an extra Rest Day in the roster, and have an overtime payment instead), you still need 5 people a day (3 running turns and 2 spare) on each of the six days. That's 30 instances of work. Divide that by 4 (for a four day week) and that's 7.5 drivers you need. You can't have a decimal point of a driver, only a whole one, so you need eight. And that's still with the complication of the early shift not being able to be done on the day following the later morning shift.


Because it's such a small depot, the 'spare' ratio ends up being huge. 100% on afternoons, and 50% (or maybe 100% if there are two spares?) on mornings.
Where I work (which isn't Scotrail) there has to be 55% spare coverage, although I have worked where there has been as low as 40%. A bigger depot will be more efficient.

Although Wick's turns of duty certainly look productive with about eight hours driving on the two longer jobs! No thanks!

 

[cf111]

All interesting stuff, thanks. When I went to Thurso last Wednesday from Wick I did notice that the 1747 Thurso-Wick was cancelled and the train went straight through from Georgemas to Wick. I assume they put a minibus on for the passengers? And is this quite a regular occurance?

There's a bus or taxis depending on passenger numbers for Thurso when this happens. It has been happening fairly regularly recently and indeed issues with the local service have been in the "esteemed" local newspaper recently, here is one such article:

http://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk...ter-crew-member-fails-to-turn-up-30112014.htm

SCOTRAIL have announced it has been forced to cancel another rail service on the Far North Line, but this time it is due to a member of staff failing to turn up.

The 11:51am service from Wick to Inverness was scrapped on Sunday morning after the firm announced it did not have the required number of staff to operate the service.

In an announcement on its website, ScotRail said "This train will be cancelled.

"This is due to waiting for a train crew member."

The Caithness Courier revealed last week in the last 12 months, 190 rail services between Wick and Inverness were cancelled or terminated early as ScotRail have come under heavy criticism in recent months.

This accounted for 3.1 per cent of the total scheduled services between September 2013 and September 2014.

The service which has 26 stops on the line is expected as usual to provide alternative bus transport for affected passengers.

Although disruption is never fun, I've never felt let-down by ScotRail even though I've had my fair share between Thurso and Inverness. The line is remote, the trains aren't new out of the box and the signalling system isn't exactly standard, but the staff have always been dead on.

 

[bradders1983]

So no staff fancied the overtime that Sunday, then